Packaging methods and structures

ABSTRACT

Methods of packaging articles using a shrinkable wrapping material which facilitates the binding of pluralities of articles such as flat sheets in a manner to resist displacement of the articles, methods of packaging articles in which the packaging material binds supporting protective and structural retaining elements such as side bumpers, corner and edge protective blocks, pallet skids, carrying trays and the like in the package to avoid damaging the packaged articles, methods in which articles are packaged with self-contained pallet skids for handling and for stacking packaged articles one on top of the other, methods of forming structural, protective and support elements for use in packaging, and methods of using shrinkable material for banding.

United States Patent 91 Lidgard 1 Apr. 23, 1974 [22] Filed:

[ PACKAGING METHODS AND STRUCTURES Edward J. Lidgard, 1103 Kingston Rd., Lathrup Village, Mich. 31069 Mar. 25, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 128,022

[76] Inventor:

2,159,622 5/1939 Sanford 206/60 A 2,614,689 10/1952 Miller 206/60 A 2,758,776 8/1956 Ellstrom 206/60 A 2,895,608 7/1959 Wilson 206/60 A X 3,050,402 8/1962 Dreyfus et al 53/30 UX 3,239,991 3/1966 Copping 53/30 3,253,379 5/1966 Foradora 53/3 3,336,727 8/1967 Lattkeml 53/198 R 3,362,128 l/1968 James 53/30 X 3,381,443 5/1968 Copping.. 53/198 R 3,416,288 12/1968 Coons 53/30 X 3,451,534 6/1969 De Remer et a1. 206/46 FC 3,508,375 4/1970 Myers 53/3 3,522,688 8/1970 Kaliwoda et a1. 53/30 3,540,183 11/1970 Bodolay et a1 53/1 1227,212 11/1971 Brown 53/30 X 3,618,755 11/1971 Kean et al 53/30 X 3,619,970 11/1971 Zelnick.....

2,930,481 3/1960 Bebie 3,026,015 3/1962 Severn 3,046,711 7/1962 Harrison 53/48 X 3,190,050 6/ 1965 Kirkpatrick 53/48 X 3,239,991 3/1966 Copping 3,331,496 7/1967 Marsden et a1.

3,640,048 2/1972 Zelnick et a1.

3,694,995 10/1972 McKinney 53/30 Primary Examiner-Roy Lake Assistant Examiner-E. F. Desmond Attorney, Agent, or Firrh-Hauke, Gifford, Patalidis & Dumont [57] ABSTRACT Methods of packaging articles using a shrinkable wrapping material which facilitates the binding of pluralities of articles such as flat sheets in a manner to resist displacement of the articles, methods of packaging articles in which the packaging material binds supporting protective and structural retaining elements such as side bumpers, corner and edge protective blocks, pallet skids, carrying trays and the like in the package to avoid damaging the packaged articles, methods in which articles are packaged with self-contained pallet skids for handling and for stacking packaged articles one on top of the other, methods of forming structural, protective and support elements for use in packaging, and methods of using shrinkable material for banding.

31 Claims, 58 Drawing Figures EATE'NTEDAPR 23 um SHEET 2 BF 6 m w w w EDWARD J L/DGA/PD BY A TORNEY PATEMTEH APR 2 a 19?.

SHEET 3 OF 6 FIG. 25

#90 INVEN-TOR EDWARD J. L/DGARD 4/ 4 1 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to methods of packaging, and more particularly to packaging methods incorporating shinkable wrapping materials in a fashion to resist displacement of packaged multiple articles, to retain various protective and supporting elements in place adjacent the packaged article, to methods of incorporating shrinkable wrapping material in conjunction with foam encased articles, and to methods of fabricating protective, support and retaining elements for packages.

2. Description of the Prior Art Shrinkable and vacuum formed plastic packaging materials are in present use, but in certain specialized packaging it has not been thought possible to use these materials, and in other cases no one heretofore has thought to adapt shrinkable material to wide varieties of articles requiring supporting protective elements.

For example, sheet glass for such products as automobile windows, home and commercial mirrors, furniture cabinets and the like is generally shipped today to users in returnable steel racks or specially manufactured wooden pallet boxes or crates. Such racks, boxes and crates have to be made in a vast number of sizes because glass is generally sold in dimensional increments of two inches. Not only is wood and steel increasingly scarce and costly, but fabricating of many sizes of shipping racks and containers is costly. Considerable effort is expended in making such containers strong enough to support and protect the glass while using the minimum of material and despite decades of development and recent improvements, the problems involved have not been satisfactorily solved.

Further, racks, crates and boxes generally admit of dirt infiltration, have high tare weight, result in excessive sized packages, and may not perform well in use.

Another example of problems in packaging is in the use of steel strapping, which may loosen in handling, and which often damages the package. Strapping used to attach pallets often sags and permits pallet blocks to fall out. Further, strapping does not contribute to the prevention of soiling or damaging of the packages, is expensive, and both strapping and unstrapping consume considerable time and labor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention represents an advance in the state of the art of packaging with shrinkable materials and in packaging articles with self-contained bumpers, protective elements and pallet skids, and is broadly de' scribed and claimed in respect to several features, of which the following are representative:

l. Methods of packaging a stack of flat articles which have a tendency to slide over each other in a pantographing fashion, in which at least a portion of the stack of flat articles is enveloped in a layer of shrinkable material which overlies at least portions of the edges of the articles on each side of the stack, and subsequently shrinking the material in a fashion to bind the articles together and resist the relative displacement thereof.

2. Methods of packaging an article which comprise the steps of enveloping at least a portion of the article in a first layer of protective material and then enveloping at least a portion of the article in a second layer of shrinkable material which overlies the first layer, and then shrinking the shrinkable material to bind the protective material to the article.

3. Methods of separately packaging articles of substantially uniform size and shape, in which discontinuous protective bumper elements are located on the sides of each article at uniform distances from their lower surfaces and enveloping at least a portion of each article in a layer of shrinkable material which overlies at least portions of the bumper elements, and shrinking the material to retain the bumper elements in place.

4. Methods of packaging an article in which protective support elements are first secured to a layer of wrapping material, which can be accomplished in mass production methods so that selected sections of wrapping material having the support elements already attached can be used to wrap at least a portion of an article to locate and bind the protective elements in selected positions adjacent the article.

5. Methods of fabricating a packaged article having a self-contained pallet skid for handling in which skid elements are located across the bottom of the article, at least portions of the article and the skid elements are enveloped in a layer of shrinkable material, and then shrinking the material to bind the skid elements to the article.

6. Methods of fabricating a packaged article having a self-contained pallet skid in which the skid is made of a tray having a-bottom and up-turned edges which embrace at least two opposite bottom side edges of the article, and downwardly extending skid elements are secured across the bottom of the tray, and at least portions of the tray and its contained article are enveloped in a layer of material to hold the tray and the article together.

7. Methods of packaging an article in which a layer of material is folded around the article to leave portions extending outwardly, which are then reinforced and perforated to form hand-holds to facilitate the manual handling of the package.

8. Methods of packaging in which an article is enveloped in a layer of protective material and supported .in a larger temporary form, the empty spaces in the form being filled with a foam material, the form being removed after the foam hardens, and the enveloped article being then wrapped in another layer of packaging material.

9. Methods of fabricating an article with a selfcontained pallet skid for handling in which a skid element is inserted in a shrinkable material overlaid recess in a form to force a portion of the material into the re cess, placing an article thereover, and shrinking the remainder of the material to the article to bind the skid element thereto.

10. Methods of fabricating various bumpers, corner blocks, pallet skids, trays, skid legs and the like for use in packaging.

ll. Packaging structures incorporating shrink film; specialized supporting, retaining, and protective elements; new pallet skid devices; and composite shrink film and structural elements for use in packaging.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The various aspects of the present invention may be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings illustrating preferred embodiments of the invention, in which like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views and in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view, partially broken-away, of a stack of flat articles in an intermediate stage of being wrapped in a layer of shrinkable material;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view as seen substantially from the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view, partially broken-away, of another embodiment of the invention showing a stack of flat articles with end supporting elements wrapped in a packaging material;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view as seen substantially from the line 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view, partially broken-away, showing the end of a package wrapped according to another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view, partially broken-away, of an intermediate stage in wrapping according to another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view as seen substantially from the line 77 of FIG. 6;

FIGS. 7A and 7B are fragmentary cross-sectional views illustrating further packaging modifications of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 7 but showing another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view, partially broken-away, illustrating several packaged articles in tiered arrangement according to other embodiments of the invention, indicating various modes of pallet construction and attachment of protective and supporting elements according to further embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view as seen substantially from the line l010 of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view as seen substantially from the line 11-11 of FIG. 9;

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary longitudinal cross-sectional view illustrating a preferred packaging of one of the palletized articles shown in FIG. 9;

FIGS. 13 and 14 are fragmentary cross-sectional views similar to FIG. 10 but illustrating other preferred embodiments of the invention;

FIGS. 15 and 16 are fragmentary perspective views illustrating other embodiments of the invention incorporating packaged articles with self-contained skids;

FIG. 17 is a transverse cross-sectional view through an octagon-shaped package having a self-contained pallet skid;

FIGS. 18, 19 and 20 are fragmentary perspective views illustrating various preferred pallet skid constructions for use in the packaging methods of the invention;

FIGS. 21-25 are perspective views illustrating various components usable as skid leg elements in the packaging methods of the invention;

FIGS. 26, 26A and 27 illustrate various procedures in the steps of forming skid legs or protective support elements used in the packaging methods of the invention;

FIG. 28 is a perspective view, partially broken-away, of another embodiment of the invention incorporating self-contained pallet skids and wrapping material forming hand-holds;

FIG. 29 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of a portion of the elements of FIG. 28;

FIG. 30 illustrates a preferred method of fabricating a sheet of packaging material having protective supporting elements secured thereto for use in wrapping an article;

FIG. 31 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view as seen substantially from the line 3030 of FIG. 29;

FIG. 32 illustrates a step in the method of fabricating the material of FIG. 29;

FIG. 33 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of a portion of FIG. 29;

FIGS. 34 and 35 illustrate steps in the fabrication of preferred support elements;

FIGS. 36 and 37 are fragmentary cross-sectional views illustrating a support element made according to the steps of FIGS. 34 and 35 and illustrating its attachment to a wrapping material;

FIG. 38 is a perspective view of another preferred support element used in the packaging methods of the invention;

FIGS. 39-41 are perspective views illustrating various steps in the fabrication of foam encased article packaged according to another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 42 is a cross-sectional view as seen substantially from the line 4242 of FIG. 41;

FIG. 43 is a perspective view of a plurality of articles secured to self-contained pallet skid and bound together in accordance with another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 44 is a perspective view of an article packaged according to another embodiment of the invention with self-contained pallet skid legs;

FIG. 45 is a perspective view of a form used in the fabrication of self-contained pallet skid legs in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 46 is abottom view of a packaged article provided with pallet skid legs;

FIG. 46A is a view similar to FIG. 46 with pallet skid legs secured to the package bottom;

FIGS. 47 and 48 are cross-sectional views illustrating alternative constructions of pallet skid legs as respectively seen substantially from the lines 4747 and 4848 of FIG. 46;

FIG. 49 is a top view of a packaged article formed with self-contained pallet skid legs used as a base for banding further articles to provide the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 43;

FIGS. 50 and 51 are perspective views illustrating steps in the preliminary fabrication of pallet skid legs;

FIG. 52 is a cross-sectional view as seen from the line 5252 of FIG. 51;

FIG. 53 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating a step in the attachment of a pallet skid leg to a sheet of wrapping material; and

FIG. 54 is a cross-sectional view as seen substantially from the line 5454 of FIG. 53.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a simplified method of packaging a stack of flat articles 10 such as plate glass and the like, wherein the top, sides and bottom side edges of the stack of articles are enveloped in a layer of shrinkable material 12. The material 12 is wrapped over the ends of the articles preferably as shown at 14, the excess material being folded together as at 16, and subsequently may be folded down over the ends and preferably secured to provide multiple layers at the ends of the stack of flat articles 10, which will tend to resist endwise pantograph-type of displacement of the articles 10 with respect to each other. The shrinkable material is subsequently shrunk over the stack of articles 10 to form a substantially tightly bound package having only the bottom edges 18 unwrapped, but the bottom edges of the material at 12a will shrink in to firmly bind the edges to the article 10. In some cases, this packaging may be all that is needed, but in other cases this will merely be a first step in providing a more complete package, in which event it may be desirable I to trim off the excess material 16 at the ends, and also to seal or otherwise secure the edges together along the top. 1

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate a method of packaging similar flat articles 10, in which only the sides and ends of the articles 10 are wrapped in a sheet of shrinkable material 20, with the excess material 24 at the bottom end of the stack of articles, where the ends of the material come together as at 26, being folded over as indicated, and subsequently further folded in over the bottom of the articles 10, the excess material at the top end being trimmed off as at 24a. Prior to wrapping, however, fiat supporting elements 28 may be emplaced over the ends of the articles 10 so that the material when'subsequently shrunk will substantially tightly bind the elements 28 flat against the ends of the articles 10 to prevent their pantographing-type of displacement with respect to each other and to protect the ends of the articles 10 from damage. The top and bottom edges of the material will, on shrinking, bind in vover the article edges as indicated at 22.

FIG. 5 illustrates another method of packaging the stack of flat articles in which a shrinkable material 30 is wrapped around the top, sides and bottom of the stack with the ends of the material shrinking in around all four end edges of the stack as at 32, to resist displacement of the articles 10 after the material 30 is shrunk in place.

FIG. 6 illustrates yet another method of wrapping the stack of flat articles 10 in a layer of shrinkable material 34 which completely envelops' the top, bottom, sides and ends of the stack, with the excess ends either folded over as at 35 or trimmed off and sealed as at 36.

It will be seen that the various packaging configurations illustrated in FIGS. 1, 3, 5 and 6 may be used in combination with each other to provide double wrapping layers such that one layer will cover the exposed portions of the'articles not covered by an underlayer. Also, the two layers may be of different materials. For example, the underlayer may consist of a tough protective material which is not necessarily shrinkable, but will be held securely bound to the articles 10 by a shrinkable overlayer of material. As an example of such a combination, FIG. 7 illustrates an underlayer wrapping material 38 which initially holds the articles 10 in their stacked relationship, being preferably wrapped in the fashion indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2, with supporting elements 40 similar to the elements 28 of FIGS. 3 and 4 being emplaced over the ends of the wrapped articles 10 and bound to the underlayer by an overlayer material 42, which may fully envelop the top, bottom, ends and sides of the stack of articles 10 as indicated in the wrapping configuration of FIG. 6.

FIG. 7A illustrates in fragmentary form an article 43 setting in a preferably corrugated cardboard tray 430, the edges of the tray being turned or bent upwardly as indicated to embrace the edges of the article 43, with the article and tray being enveloped in a layer of shrinkable material 43b which, after shrinking, firmly binds the tray to the article. This type of tray maybe used also on the ends, the top, or the sides of the article as desired to provide a protection therefor. Further, pallet skid elements or other bumpers, corner blocks or the like may be secured either to the tray 43a prior to enveloping in the material 43b, or carried by the material 43b as will be illustrated in other embodiments of the invention hereafter.

FIG. 78 illustrates the article 43 as being supported in the tray 43a but the layer of shrinkable material 43b, instead of completely enveloping the tray 43a, is secured to the upwardly turned edges thereof preferably by heat-sealing at the point indicated at 43c.

FIG. 8 illustrates in fragmentary form yet another method of wrapping any given article 44, in which an underlayer of material 46 and an overlayer of material 48 are illustrated as enveloping all faces of an article 44.

Various combinations of the wrapping methods heretofore described may be used depending on the expected handling to which the articles 10 may be subsequently subjected, but in all cases a primary object is to resist the pantograph-type of displacement of the articles with respect to each other which could otherwise occur, as well as provide inexpensive, light-weight and compact packaging. The use of a shrinkable material by itself not only provides this function to a degree, but acts to retain and bind the supporting elements which may be emplaced against the edges of the flat articles so that the stack will retain its substantially rectilinear or any other configuration throughout future handling, yet may be easily and rapidly unwrapped.

The shrinkable material which is most commonly known is a plastic which, when subjected to a prescribed degree of heat, will shrink substantially uniformly and stretch as necessary over corners without rupturing. The heat may be applied by passing the wrapped stack of articles through a suitable oven, under heat lamps, or by manually passing a heat gun or other heat producing device over the surfaces to be shrunk in place.

FIG. 9 illustrates packaged articles 50, 52 and 54 which are shown in a tiered stack as they would be stored in a warehouse, for example, with various illustrative examples of pallet skids, skid plates, protective bumpers, and corner and edge protective elements, all

- as described hereinafter. For clarity, the particular lay- The other end of the article 50 is illustrated as having similar end and side bumper elements 60 and 62 respectively, which are carried on a somewhat larger cardboard, paper, fiberboard or the like element 64 to facilitate securing to the article or the outer wrapping thereof by any means such as gluing, heat sealing, or using a piece of masking tape 66. These bumper elements 56, S8, 60 and 62 are preferably located at a standard height from the bottom edges of the article 50 so that in handling pluralities of similarly packaged articles the bumpers will prevent adjacent articles from hitting each other with possible consequent damage. The adjoining end and side bumper elements may be separate, or they may readily be made from a single section of stock partially cut through at two spaced points and folded into a U-shape to embrace the end and sides of the article 50 around the vertical end edges thereof.

The intermediately tiered article 52 is illustrated as having on one end a pair of laterally spaced protective bumper blocks 68 carried on a strip of cardboard 70, or other suitable material, which is secured to the article or to an underlayer of wrapping material by any means such as pieces of masking tape, 72 to locate the bumper blocks 68 at the upper corners of the end of the article 52 as shown. Side corner bumper blocks 74, which may be part of the end bumper block 68 or separate therefrom, are emplaced adjacent the upper end corners of the sides of the article 52. The other end of the article 52 is illustrated as having secured thereto by pieces of masking tape 76 elements of cardboard 78 or other suitable material, to which are secured corner blocks 80 located to protect all three corner surfaces of the article 52. The cardboard or other suitable elements 78 may be separate, or may be integral and folded over the edges of the article 52.

The lower tiered article 54 is illustrated at one end as having vertically extending protective elements 82 and 84 embracing the vertical end edges of the article 54, being secured together by nails 85 or carried on a backing to which the elements are secured by any means desired. The other end of the article 54 is illustrated as having longitudinally extending corner blocks 86 and 88 respectively located along the upper edge of the article adjacent the end thereof to embrace the end corner.

The uppermost article 50 also has a pallet skid assembly 88 secured across the bottom of the article, and comprising a pair of spaced skid elements 90 secured to the bottom of a flat tray 92 along opposite edges thereof, so that the skid elements 90 are transverse to the longitudinal axis of the article 50 and spaced a considerable distance inside of the ends of the article 50. Upstanding edge strip elements 94 are secured along the side edges of the tray 92 to embrace the lower side edges of the article 50, with the ends of the strip elements 94 overlying the ends of the skid elements 90 as shown with the corners of the tray in between. This pallet skid assembly 88 is secured to the article 50 preferably by wrapping the entire article and pallet skid assembly in a layer of shrinkable material 96 as illustrated in FIG. 12, or by using shrinkable material strips as are illustrated in FIG. 43 and will be described hereinafter. The layer of material 96 serves to grip the pallet skid assembly 88 securely to the wrapped article so that it can be readily lifted, carried and stacked by any means such as a fork-lift truck.

The intermediately tiered article 52 is illustrated as having a pair of pallet skid assemblies 98 on the lower ends of the article. These assemblies are made substantially similar to the assembly 88 previously described, with trays 100, skid elements 102, and edge strip elements 104 embracing the lower side edges of the article 52, but with the addition of a transverse edge strip element 106 which embraces the lower end edge of the article 52. It is noted that the outermost skid element 102 of the assembly 98 is preferably slightly inset from the extreme end of the tray 100, although it may be located adjacent the end edge if desired.

The lowermost tiered article 54 is illustrated as having a pallet skid assembly 108 which comprises a single long tray 110 having a plurality of longitudinally spaced transverse skid elements 112 across the bottom, with upstanding side edge strip elements 114 and end edge strip elements 116 which together peripherally embrace all four lower edges of the article 54.

The previously described pallet skid assemblies 98 and 100 may also be secured to the articles 52 and 54 respectively by enveloping them in a shrinkable material in a fashion similar to those shown in FIGS. 12 or 43.

Individual skid plates 118 are shown as being emplaced on top of the articles 50 and 52 to underlie the skid elements of skid assemblies stacked on top of the respective article, these skid plates preferably being retained securely in place against the articles by the shrinkable material as indicated in FIG. 12. Alternatively, a larger skid plate 120 may be so emplaced to underlie a pair of skid elements as shown in FIG. 9 intermediate the article 54 and skid elements 102.

FIG. 10 illustrates in fragmentary form the article 50 as being enveloped in an underlayer 122 and an overlayer 124 of wrapping material, either of which or both may be shrinkable for the purposes heretofore described, with the bumper element 56 being secured exteriorly of the overlayer 124 by any preferred means such as adhesive, or by being first mounted on cardboard or other suitable strips which are then taped or otherwise secured to the overlayer 124.

In FIG. 11, the article 52 is shown as being wrapped in an underlayer 126 and an overlayer 128 of wrapping material with the bumper blocks 68 and 74 and their carrying elements 70 all sandwiched between the underlayer and overlayer, the overlayer preferably being of shrinkable material which will bind all of these protective support elements, as well as the underlayer 126, to the article 52 as shown.

FIG. l3 is similar to FIG. 10, except in this case the end bumper element 56 is sandwiched between the underlayer 122 and overlayer 124 of wrapping materials.

FIG. 14 similarly shows the same elements as in FIG. 10, but in this case the bumper element 56 is emplaced immediately adjacent the article 50 with both the underlayer 122 and overlayer 124 enveloping both the article 50 and element 56 to hold them bound substantially tightly together.

FIG. 15 illustrates the use of a simplified pallet skid assembly 130 which comprises a simple flat tray element 132 with no upstanding edge strip elements as are shown in FIG. 9, with a single skid element 134 secured to the bottom of the tray element 132 as indicated. At least two such skid assemblies 130 would be required to support a wrapped article 136, and may be secured to the article individually if desired by a layer of wrapping material 138 which envelops the ends of the top, bottom and side surfaces of the article and will be shrunk over the end edges as indicated at 140. The layer of material 138 again is preferably of a shrinkable type to securely bind the pallet skid assembly 130 in place.

FIG. 16 illustrates an article 142 which is provided with simplified pallet skid legs 144 held to the article 142 by a strip of wrapping material 146. It will be seen that two such skid legs 144 must be used in each of two longitudinally separated locations to provide the necessary support for the wrapped article 142. The material 146 alternatively may be a simple plain piece of wrapping with the ends secured together in any fashion as at 147, and the whole article with the skid legs so attached may be later wrapped in a shrinkable material to more securely bind the legs 144 and material 146 to the article 142.

Any of the heretofore described bumpers, blocks, support and protective elements, skids and the like may be made of various materials such as wood, laminated corrugated cardboard, fiberboard, plastic, hardenable foam material, or the like, depending on needs, availability, or preference.

FIG. 17 illustrates an irregularly shaped article 148 supported by a complementary shaped pallet skid element 150 secured thereto by an enveloping layer of material 152 like the strip 146 of FIG. 16, with its ends secured together as at 153 by any means such as adhesive, heat sealing, staples or the like.

FIGS. 18, 19 and illustrate various elements and assemblies which can be used for palletizing an article. FIG. 18 illustrates a flat support element 154 made of plywood, hardboard or the like nailed to a depending wooden skid element 156, the assembly of these two elements being located transversely to the article 136 in the manner shown in FIG. 15. In FIG. 19, a larger flat support element 158 has secured to the lower end edges thereof wooden skid elements 160, the assembly of the several elements being secured to the bottom of an article in any of the manners heretofore described. FIG. 20 illustrates a corrugated element 162 which is made of a relatively rigid material such as fiberglass or other plastic, which can readily be used as a skid element by being secured to the bottom of the article and- /or binding it thereto in any of the manners heretofore described.

FIGS. 21 through illustrate various pallet leg elements which may be secured to an article in the manner disclosed in FIG. 16 or in other ways which will be described hereinafter. FIG. 21 illustrates the use of a rolled-up length of single faced corrugated cardboard 164 to form a short cylindrical leg which has quite high load bearing capabilities. FIG. 22 illustrates a short section of spiralformed paper or cardboard tube 166 such as could be cut from a length of ordinary mailing tube and which has fairly high axial load bearing capability. FIG. 23 shows a small rectilinear block 168 which may be formed of wood, compressed fiber material, laminated corrugated paper, or high'density foam material and the like, fabricated to have high load bearing capability. FIG. 24 illustrates a rectilinear tapered tubular element 169 having a peripheral outwardly extending flange 170 formed preferably integrally with the larger end as shown. This element may be die formed of a rigid plastic, metal or other suitable material. FIG. 25

illustrates a short section of triangular formed tube 172 made from a corrugated cardboard which will have fairly high axial load bearing characteristics. Any of these elements illustrated in FIGS. 21-25 may be emplaced on the bottom of the article and held by a strip of wrapping material as indicated in FIG. 16, or may alternatively be secured to the wrapping material by any preferred means such as adhesive, stapling, heat sealing, or by affixing in any of the manners described hereinafter.

FIG. 26, for example, shows a method in which a layer of wrapping material 174 has die-cut openings 176 formed therein, and into which are inserted tubular elements 169, such as illustrated in FIG. 24, with the flange thereof secured to the edge of the opening 176 by heat sealing, gluing, stapling or other means desired. It will be apparent that this system of perforating the wrapping material and securing an element may incorporate any type of element which has a flange, and is not necessarily restricted to using the type of element shown in FIG. 24. Also, if desired, the material 174 may be merely sli'tted star-fashion to form the perforation 176 through which the element 169 is inserted.

FIG. 26A illustrates an alternative method in which a layer of wrapping material 174 has die-cut star-slitted openings like ,those of FIG. 26, but in this case the edges 176a of the openings have been sandwiched between an outer tube element 177a and an inner tube element 177b, these elements preferably being similar to the spiral tube element 1660f FIG. 22. This assembly is best formed by locating the material 174 to register the die-cut or star-slitted opening with the larger tube element 177a, and then inserting the inner tube element 177b from the top to fold over the edge 176a, after which the tube elements and the edge 176a may be stapled, glued, heat sealed or otherwise secured together.

FIG. 27 illustrates a method of securing a block element 168 as shown in FIG. 23 to a layer of shrinkable material 180 by forming the material 180 over the element 178, using a backing screen 182 and applying heat to the area of material 180 around the element 178 to grip same and hold it in place, while applying a heat sink element 184 or water-cooled bar 186 adjacent the element 178 to prevent shrinkage of the material 180 other than in that area enveloping the element 178.

FIG. 28 illustrates a method of wrapping elongated articles 188 wherein they are first wrapped in a layer of preferably shrinkable material 190 to envelop the entire group of articles 188, with the material wrapped over the ends as indicated at 192, the excess material at the bottom end edge being preferably sealed and trimmed as at 194 and the excess material at the upper end edge being folded as shown to a triangular shape, with a triangular shaped reinforcement element 196 made of plastic, fiberboard, or the like secured to the material 190 by any desired means, the whole being provided with a hand-hold perforation 198. Longitudinally spaced skid elements 200 are positioned across the bottom surface of the wrapped articles 190 as indicated, being held thereto by lengths of preferably shrinkable material 202 which are heat sealed, stapled or adhesively secured to the bottom of the wrapping material 190 and extending around the bottom side edges as shown.

FIG. 29 illustrates a method in which the reinforcement element 196, preformed with the hand-hold 198, is sandwiched between separate layers of the folded material 190, and heat sealed around the element 198 as indicated.

FIG. 30 illustrates a method of preforming the wrapping material and skid elements for securing to any wrapped article, in which a continuous length of wrapping material 204 has skid elements, such as long rectilinear blocks 206 or transversely spaced square blocks 208, held thereon by sections of material 210 secured to the length of material 204 by any means such as adhesive, stapling, heat sealing or the like. Any section of material such as that embraced by the two dash lines 212 may be cut from the length of material 204 and secured to any article as heretofore illustrated. A longer piece of the material 204 may be used which includes multiples of the skid elements.

FIG. 31 illustrates how the block 206 is sandwiched between the wrapping material 204 and the smaller section of material 210, with the edges of the material 210 being adhesively secured, heat sealed, stapled or otherwise fixed as at 213 to the material 204.

To achieve a neat taut attachment of the skid element to the wrapping material 204, the small section 210 may be shrinkable material and, as illustrated in FIG. 32, the edges thereof would be sealed or otherwise secured to the material 204 as at 214, a heat sink element 216 or the like being located closely adjacent the block 206, and the heat being thus applied only to that area of the material 210 enveloping the block 206 to shrink the material 210 to the block contour.

FIG. 33 illustrates how a non-shrinkable material 210 would be wrapped over the block 206 with the end folded as at 218, and sealed or otherwise secured to the wrapping material 204 along a line 220 which is preferably closely adjacent the block 206 as indicated.

FIGS. 34 and 35 illustrate a method of making a skid leg element in which a rectangular section of shrinkable material 221 is provided along one edge with a plurality of preferably equally spaced slits 222, and is wrapped around and secured to the periphery of a tubular element 224 as indicated in FIG. 34. The slit portion of the material 221 is then fanned-out as shown in FIG. 35, and the material 221 is heat shrunk onto the tube, so that the edge opposite the slit edge will shrink over the edge and into the tube as at 226. This element then may be secured to a suitable layer of wrapping material by heat sealing the fanned-out slit edge along the line 225 as shown in FIG. 36. The phantom line 223 of FIG. 34 illustrates a Iongersection of the material 221 which can be shrunk over the end of the tube 226 and be additionally heat sealed along the line 228 on the inside of the tube as shown in FIG. 37.

FIG. 38 illustrates a somewhat similar method of making a skid leg in which a section of shrinkable material 229, having one end slit to form portions 229a, is wrapped around a square tubing element 230, or other than cylindrical tubing, so the portions 229a may be heat sealed to the main layer of wrapping material along a heat seal line 231.

FIGS. 39 through 42 illustrate various steps in a method of wrapping an article 250, which may be irregularly shaped as indicated, in which the article 250 is first developed in a layer of shrinkable material 252 which is shrunk into place. A tear wire 254 is encircled around the wrapped article 250 as indicated in FIG. 39.

Next, the wrapped article is positioned within a temporary and adjustably sized rectilinear form 256 with the ends of the tear wire 254 extending outwardly thereof, and the empty spaces within the form 256 are filled with a hardenable foam, such as polyurethane, polystyrene or the like, to form a substantially rectilinear shaped protective block 257. This block is then wrapped in an overlayer of shrinkable material 258 which is subsequently shrunk to form a relatively impervious surface over the block 258. Skid elements 260 may be secured to the base of the block 257 in any fashion herein described.

FIG. 43 illustrates several methods of banding together pluralities of articles in which a base assembly 262, preferably provided with self-contained pallet skid legs 264 fabricated in a manner to be described, has a stack of articles 266 carried as shown. These articles 266 are banded to the base assembly 262 in any of several preferred methods. For example, a band of shrinkable material 268 has its ends heat sealed or otherwise secured to the side edges of the base assembly 262 as at 270 and extends over the stack of articles 266, being subsequently heat shrunk to bind them to the base assemblies 262. Alternatively, a band of shrinkable material 272 may be wrapped underneath the base assembly 262 intermediate the pallet skid legs 264 and over and around the stack of articles 266, its ends being secured together as at 274, and subsequently heat shrunk to bind the stack of articles 266 to the base assembly 262. Further alternatively, a band of shrinkable material 276 having been preformed with a pallet skid leg 278 by any of the methods previously described such as that in FIG. 30, is wrapped around and over the stack of articles 266 and has its ends secured by any means as at 280, after which the band 276 is shrunk to bind the stack of articles 266, the base assembly 262 and the skid legs 278 together.

FIG. 44 illustrates a method of packaging a stack of articles 282 in which pallet skid legs 284 have been secured to a layer of shrinkable material 287 according to methods hereafter described, with the'material 286 wrapped up and over the articles 282 with the edges preferably heat sealed or otherwise secured along a line 288, with the material 286 thereafter being shrunk to bind the articles 282 and the skid legs 284 together, the edges of the material 286 shrinking around the edges as at 290.

FIG. 45 illustrates a preferred form assembly 292 used in the fabrication of the base assembly 262 of FIG. 43 or in the packaging of the articles 282 as in FIG. 44. The form assembly 292 comprises a plurality of form blocks 294 each having a recess 296, and the blocks being adjustably slidably carried on longitudinal and transverse rods 298 and 300 respectively so that the form block 294 may be adjusted to different positions depending on the size of the articles to be packaged. Other adjustable recessed forms may be suitable, that shown in FIG. 45 being merely one preferred example.

The form assembly 292 may be used in different fashions. In one method, to produce a package as shown in FIGS. 46, 47 and 49, a layer of shrinkable material 302 is spread over the form assembly 292 and pallet skid leg elements 304 are inserted into the block form recesses 296, forcing the material down into same and enveloping the element 304. Next, an article or articles 306 are stacked on the form assembly 292, and the edges of the layer of material 302 are brought up and around the edges of the articles 306, and secured as at 308 as illustrated in FIG. 49. FIG. 46 shows this completed assembly of elements inverted for clarity. Following, the layer of shrinkable material 302 is shrunk to bind the skid elements 304 to the articles 306, thereby producing the base assembly 262 which is subsequently used as a support for other articles 266 stacked and bound thereon as shown in FIG. 43.

Alternatively, the larger layer of shrinkable material 286 described in reference to FIG. 44 may be laid over the form assembly 292, the pallet skid legs 294 may then be inserted in the appropriate form block recesses 296, the stack of articles 282 piled on the form assembly 292 over the layer of material 286, which is then wrapped up and over the articles 282 and secured as previously described, and finally shrunk to bind everything together.

In another method, the final assembly being illustrated in fragmentary form in FIGS. 46A and 48, prefabricated pallet skid assemblies 310 are first inserted into the form block recesses 296, a layer of shrinkable material 312 is laid over the form assembly 292, the skid elements 310 are then secured thereto, the articles 306 are set in place' on the form assembly 292 over the material 312, which is then wrapped around the articles 306 and subsequently shrunk in place, thereby forming the previously described base assembly 262 or a package formed as in FIG. 44.

FIGS. 50 through54 illustrate steps in the formation of the preferred pallet skid leg element 310 for use in the fabrication of the base assembly 262 or in any of the other heretofore described packaging methods. First, a strip of corrugated cardboard 314 or the like is enveloped in astrip of preferably shrinkable material 316, having the side edges secured as by'heat sealing along the line 318 to leave one edge extending normal to the plane of the cardboard 314 and projecting further than the other edge as illustrated in FIG. 50. The extending edge is then multiply slit as at 320, and the corrugated cardboard 314 is bent on fold lines 322, with the ends of the material 316 secured together to form a rectangular element 310 having co-planar flanges 322 extending outwardly from the edges thereof as shown in FIGS. 51 and 52. This element may then, as illustrated in FIGS. 53 and 54, be secured to the layer of shrinkable material 312 preferably by heat sealing along the lines 324.

It will be noted that in the drawings of this application, layers of wrapping material are illustrated as lines which are spaced from other structure for clarity, but it will be understood that this space is not actually present in practice, and the material and structure wrapped are in fact in contact.

In summary, 1 have shown various unique methods of packaging a stack of flat articles with emphasis on the use of shrinkable material to resist the displacement of the articles with respect to each other; methods of packaging other than necessarily flat objects with emphasis again on the use of shrinkable material to form readily handled packages; methods of separately packaging articles which may be subject to contact in handling with emphasis on the methods of securing and locating protective elements thereto; methods of packaging articles in which various protective and support elements are secured to the layer or layers of wrapping material; methods of fabricating packaged articles with self-contained pallet skids, emphasising the use of shrinkable material for such purposes; methods of making and using pallet skids, protective and supporting elements, which may be self-contained with the wrapped article; and methods of packaging an article in which hardenable foam encasement processes are involved.

, Further, the present application discloses many structural features of package assemblies which can be selectively used in the methods described.

Although I have thus described only some of many varieties of packaging methods and structures embodying the present invention, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art to which. the invention pertains that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A method of packaging an article, comprising:

a. emplacing a protective support element intermediate a layer of protective material and a layer of shrinkable material such that said layers extend beyond the periphery of said element,

b. securing only said layers together peripherally of said element,

c. enveloping said article with said layers to position said element adjacent selectedportions of said article, and

d. shrinking said shrinkable material to bind said layers and said element to said article.

2. The method as in claim 1 wherein the step of securing said layers together comprises heat sealing together at least some edges of said material prior to shrinking. v

3. A method of separately packaging pluralities of articles of substantially uniform size and shape, comprisa. initially enveloping at least portions of each article in a layer of protective material,

b. emplacing elongated discontinuous protective bumper elements over said protective material transversely across the sides of each article spaced at uniform distances from the bottoms thereof,

c. enveloping at least a portion of each article in a layer of shrinkable material overlying at least portions of said bumper elements, and

d. shrinking said material to retain said bumper elements in place.

4. The method as in claim 3 wherein said underlying layer is shrinkable material, and including the step of shrinking said underlying layer to bind same to said article.

5. The method as in claim 3 including the step of securing said bumper elements to said underlying layer prior to applying said overlying layer.

6. A method of packaging an article, comprising:

a. preforming a pocket in a layer .of wrapping material,

b. inserting a protective support element in said pocket,

c. closing said pocket with a second layer of material,

d. securing said layers together, and e. wrapping at least a portion of said article in said layers to locate and bind said support element in a selected position adjacent said article. 7. The method as in claim 6 wherein said second layer of material is shrinkable, and including the step of shrinking said second layer after securing same to said first layer.

8. A method of fabricating a packaged article with a self-contained pallet skid for handling, comprising:

a. locating at least one skid element across the bottom of said article, said element having outwardly extending flanges, and said flanges facing said article,

b. enveloping at least portions of said article and elements in a layer of perforated shrinkable material with the elements excepting the flanges thereof protruding through the perforations, and

c. shrinking said material to bind the flanges of said elements to said article.

9. The method as in claim 8 including the step of securing side support elements to said skid elements prior to applying said material, said support elements being dimensioned to embrace at least two opposite bottom side edges of said article.

10. The method as in claim 8 including the step of securing side support elements to said skid elements prior to applying said material, said support elements being dimensioned to embrace at least three bottom side edges of said article.

11. The method as in claim 8 including the step of securing side support elements to said skid elements prior to applying said material, said support elements being dimensioned to embrace all bottom side edges of said article.

12. The method as in claim 8 and including the step of affixing said elements to said material and protruding through said perforations prior to applying said material to said article.

13. The method as in claim 8 and including the step of initially securing said elements to said material before locating.

14. A method of fabricating a packaged article with a self-contained pallet skid for handling, comprising:

a. forming pockets in a layer of shrinkable material,

b. inserting skid elements in said pockets,

c. enveloping at least portions of said article in said layer to locate said elements across the bottom of said article, and

d. shrinking said material to bind said elements to said article.

15. The method as in claim 14 and including the step of closing said pockets with a second layer of material after inserting said elements.

16. The method as in claim 8 including the step of securing said flanges to said material.

17. The method as in claim 8 and including the step of locating protective elements on the top of said article, said material enveloping at least portions of said protective elements to bind same to said article, and said protective elements being located to register with skid elements of another packaged article stacked on said article top.

18. A method of fabricating a packaged article with a self-contained pallet skid for handling comprising:

a. providing a base form with at least one recess adapted to retain a pallet skid element,

b. overlaying at least a portion of said form and said recess with a layer of shrinkable flexible wrapping material,

0. inserting'a rigid skid element in said recess to force a portion of said material therein,

d. placing an article on the material overlying said form, e. enveloping at least a portion of said article with the remaining portion of said material, 5 f. shrinking said material to bind said skid element to said article, and

g. removing said base form.

19. The method as in claim 18 wherein said material is sized to envelop only the bottom and lower portions of at least two opposite sides of said article, and including the steps of affixing the ends of at least one strip of shrinkable material to the first material at the opposite sides thereof and extending over the top of said article, and shrinking said strip.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein said article is enveloped with said layer of shrinkable material overlying said element and said layer of protective material.

21. The method of claim 1 wherein said protective layer is shrinkable and both layers are shrunk after enveloping said article.

22. A method of fabricating a packaged article with a self-contained pallet skid for handling, comprising:

a. forming a plurality of skid elements from sections of stiffening material folded to a tubular configuration,

b. locating said skid elements at spaced locations on the bottom of said article with the tubular axes of said elements extending normal to the lower surface of said article,

c. wrapping an underlayer of material around at least portions of said article and elements to secure same to said article,

d. enveloping at least portions of said article and elements in a layer of shrinkable material, and

e. shrinking said material to bind said elements and underlayer to said article.

23. A method of fabricating a packaged article with a self-contained pallet skid for handling, comprising the sequential steps of:

a. sandwiching inflexible spaced skid elements between layers of material secured together, one layer being shrinkable, with the material between and extending beyond said sandwiched skid elements remaining flexible,

b. next enveloping at least portions of said article in said layers to locate said elements at spaced positions across the bottom of said article with the material which extends beyond said skid elements wrapped at least partially up the sides of said article, and

c. shrinking said shrinkable material to bind said skid elements and said layers of material to said article.

24. The method as in claim 1 wherein said article is rectilinear and said support element is positioned around a comer of said article defined by the conjunction of three article surfaces for protection of said cornet.

25. The method as in claim 1 wherein said article is rectilinear and said support element is positioned around an edge of said article defined by the conjunction of two article surfaces for protection of said edge.

26. The method as in claim 1 wherein said article is rectilinear and said support element is positioned to overlie at least portions of two sides of said article.

27. The method as in claim 1 wherein said articleis rectilinear and said support element is positioned to overlie at least a portion of the junction between two sides of said article.

28. The method as in claim 1 wherein said article is rectilinear and said support element is positioned to overlie the junction of three sides of said article.

29. A method of packaging a stack of similarly dimensioned flat fragile plate articles arranged with side edges in contiguous planes, comprising:

a. enveloping said stack of articles in a layer of flexible protective material,

b. emplacing separate elongated relatively rigid flat inner surfaced support elements transversely across opposite side edges of said stack of articles adjacent side edges of a multiple of said articles and separated therefrom by said protective material,

c. bending a portion of said support element around a corner of said stack of articles defined by the conjunction of three surfaces faces of said stack of articles,

d. enveloping said protectively enveloped stack of articles and the emplaced support elements in an overlying layer of shrinkable material, and

e. shrinking said material to bind said articles and support elements together such that said shrinkable material and said support elements cooperate to prevent pantographing displacement of said articles.

30. The method as in claim 29 wherein said protective material is also shrinkable, and including the step of shrinking same to initially bind said articles together prior to enveloping same in said overlying layer.

31. A method of fabricating a packaged article with a self-contained pallet skid for handling, comprising:

a. locating skid elements across the bottom of said article,

b. wrapping an underlayer of material around at least portions of said article and elements to secure same to said article,

0. enveloping at least portions of said article and elements in a layer of shrinkable material,

d. shrinking said material to bind said elements and underlayer to said article,

e. said skid element being initially formed of a section of stiffening material foldable to a tubing configuration,

f. enfolding a piece of flexible material around said stiffening material to leave a portion extending therefrom, and

g. securing said extending portion to said shrinkable material overlying said skid element.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3 05 473 Dated A j] 23 1914 E d ward J; Lidgard It is certifiedjthat error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Address of Inventor: delete J'Lathrup Village, Michf." and substitute therefor --Perry,' Georgia-- IN THE'SPECIFICATION Col. 11, line v65,; delete "developed? and substitute therefor -e nveloped v Col. '13, line 12, delete numeral "294" and substitute therefor --28 4-- Signed and sealed this 10th day of September 1974.

' l (SEAL) I Attest: MCCOY 'MQGIBSON, JR. (3. MARSHALL DANN Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents FORM po-mso (IO-69). USCOMWDC 6056* U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: l9! O--36G-'3J4 

1. A method of packaging an article, comprising: a. emplacing a protective support element intermediate a layer of protective material and a layer of shrinkable material such that said layers extend beyond the periphery of said element, b. securing only said layers together peripherally of said element, c. enveloping said article with said layers to position said element adjacent selected portions of said article, and d. shrinking said shrinkable material to bind said layers and said element to said article.
 2. The method as in claim 1 wherein the step of securing said layers together comprises heat sealing together at least some edges of said material prior to shrinking.
 3. A method of separately packaging pluralities of articles of substantially uniform size and shape, comprising: a. initially enveloping at least portions of each article in a layer of protective material, b. emplacing elongated discontinuous protective bumper elements over said protective material transversely across the sides of each article spaced at uniform distances from the bottoms thereof, c. enveloping at least a portion of each article in a layer of shrinkable material overlying at least portions of said bumper elements, and d. shrinking said material to retain said bumper elements in place.
 4. The method as in claim 3 wherein said underlying layer is shrinkable material, and including the step of shrinking said underlying layer to bind same to said article.
 5. The method as in claim 3 including the step of securing said bumper elements to said underlying layer prior to applying said overlying layer.
 6. A method of packaging an article, comprising: a. preforming a pocket in a layer of wrapping material, b. inserting a protective support element in said pocket, c. closing said pocket with a second layer of material, d. securing said layers together, and e. wrapping at least a portion of said article in said layers to locate and bind said support element in a selected position adjacent said article.
 7. The method as in claim 6 wherein said second layer of material is shrinkable, and including the step of shrinking said second layer after securing same to said first layer.
 8. A method of fabricating a packaged article with a self-contained pallet skid for handling, comprising: a. locating at least one skid element across the bottom of said article, said element having outwardly extending flanges, and said flanges facing said article, b. enveloping at least portions of said article and elements in a layer of perforated shrinkable material with the elements excepting the flanges thereof protruding through the perforations, and c. shrinking said material to bind the flanges of said elements to said article.
 9. The method as in claim 8 including the step of securing side support elements to said skid elements prior to applying said material, said support elements being dimensioned to embrace at least two opposite bottom side edges of said article.
 10. The method as in claim 8 including the step of securing side support elements to said skid elements prior to applying said material, said support elements being dimensioned to embrace at least three bottom side edges of said article.
 11. The method as in claim 8 including the step of securing side support elements to said skid elements prior to applying said material, said support elements being dimensioned to embrace all bottom side edges of said article.
 12. The method as in claim 8 and including the step of affixing said elements to said material and protruding through said perforations prior to applying said material to said article.
 13. The method as in claim 8 and including the step of initially securing said elements to said material before locating.
 14. A method of fabricating a packaged article with a self-contained pallet skid for handling, comprising: a. forming pockets in a layer of shrinkable material, b. inserting skid elements in said pockets, c. enveloping at least portions of said article in said layer to locate said elements across the bottom of said article, and d. shrinking said material to bind said elements to said article.
 15. The method as in claim 14 and including the step of closing said pockets with a second layer of material after inserting said elements.
 16. The method as in claim 8 including the step of securing said flanges to said material.
 17. The method as in claim 8 and including the step of locating protective elements on the top of said article, said material enveloping at least portions of said protective elements to bind same to said article, and said protective elements being located to register with skid elements of another packaged article stacked on said article top.
 18. A method of fabricating a packaged article with a self-contained pallet skid for handling comprising: a. providing a base form with at least one recess adapted to retain a pallet skid element, b. oVerlaying at least a portion of said form and said recess with a layer of shrinkable flexible wrapping material, c. inserting a rigid skid element in said recess to force a portion of said material therein, d. placing an article on the material overlying said form, e. enveloping at least a portion of said article with the remaining portion of said material, f. shrinking said material to bind said skid element to said article, and g. removing said base form.
 19. The method as in claim 18 wherein said material is sized to envelop only the bottom and lower portions of at least two opposite sides of said article, and including the steps of affixing the ends of at least one strip of shrinkable material to the first material at the opposite sides thereof and extending over the top of said article, and shrinking said strip.
 20. The method of claim 1 wherein said article is enveloped with said layer of shrinkable material overlying said element and said layer of protective material.
 21. The method of claim 1 wherein said protective layer is shrinkable and both layers are shrunk after enveloping said article.
 22. A method of fabricating a packaged article with a self-contained pallet skid for handling, comprising: a. forming a plurality of skid elements from sections of stiffening material folded to a tubular configuration, b. locating said skid elements at spaced locations on the bottom of said article with the tubular axes of said elements extending normal to the lower surface of said article, c. wrapping an underlayer of material around at least portions of said article and elements to secure same to said article, d. enveloping at least portions of said article and elements in a layer of shrinkable material, and e. shrinking said material to bind said elements and underlayer to said article.
 23. A method of fabricating a packaged article with a self-contained pallet skid for handling, comprising the sequential steps of: a. sandwiching inflexible spaced skid elements between layers of material secured together, one layer being shrinkable, with the material between and extending beyond said sandwiched skid elements remaining flexible, b. next enveloping at least portions of said article in said layers to locate said elements at spaced positions across the bottom of said article with the material which extends beyond said skid elements wrapped at least partially up the sides of said article, and c. shrinking said shrinkable material to bind said skid elements and said layers of material to said article.
 24. The method as in claim 1 wherein said article is rectilinear and said support element is positioned around a corner of said article defined by the conjunction of three article surfaces for protection of said corner.
 25. The method as in claim 1 wherein said article is rectilinear and said support element is positioned around an edge of said article defined by the conjunction of two article surfaces for protection of said edge.
 26. The method as in claim 1 wherein said article is rectilinear and said support element is positioned to overlie at least portions of two sides of said article.
 27. The method as in claim 1 wherein said article is rectilinear and said support element is positioned to overlie at least a portion of the junction between two sides of said article.
 28. The method as in claim 1 wherein said article is rectilinear and said support element is positioned to overlie the junction of three sides of said article.
 29. A method of packaging a stack of similarly dimensioned flat fragile plate articles arranged with side edges in contiguous planes, comprising: a. enveloping said stack of articles in a layer of flexible protective material, b. emplacing separate elongated relatively rigid flat inner surfaced support elements transversely across opposite side edges of said stack of articles adjacent side edges of a multiple of said articles and sepArated therefrom by said protective material, c. bending a portion of said support element around a corner of said stack of articles defined by the conjunction of three surfaces faces of said stack of articles, d. enveloping said protectively enveloped stack of articles and the emplaced support elements in an overlying layer of shrinkable material, and e. shrinking said material to bind said articles and support elements together such that said shrinkable material and said support elements cooperate to prevent pantographing displacement of said articles.
 30. The method as in claim 29 wherein said protective material is also shrinkable, and including the step of shrinking same to initially bind said articles together prior to enveloping same in said overlying layer.
 31. A method of fabricating a packaged article with a self-contained pallet skid for handling, comprising: a. locating skid elements across the bottom of said article, b. wrapping an underlayer of material around at least portions of said article and elements to secure same to said article, c. enveloping at least portions of said article and elements in a layer of shrinkable material, d. shrinking said material to bind said elements and underlayer to said article, e. said skid element being initially formed of a section of stiffening material foldable to a tubing configuration, f. enfolding a piece of flexible material around said stiffening material to leave a portion extending therefrom, and g. securing said extending portion to said shrinkable material overlying said skid element. 